News Update
County jail passes inspections 25th straight year
File Photo -- The Collin County Detention Center facilities, located in McKinney, have passed state inspections for the 25th straight year. Atascosa County in South Texas holds the state record of 30 consecutive years.
By Dan Eakin, deakin@starlocalnews.com
The Collin County Detention Center and the minimum-security facility earlier this month passed state inspections with flying colors.
It was the 25th consecutive year the county jail facilities have passed state inspections.
The facilities passed on more than 600 inspection points. Inspections also looked at their fire drills, life-safety equipment, laundry and kitchen equipment.
Collin County Sheriff Terry Box said Fred St. Amant, inspector for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), met with County Administrator Bill Bilyeu following the inspections.
"He bragged about the way we keep our facilities in top notch condition," Box said. "It was nice to hear someone from the outside saying nice things about our facilities."
Box added, "I attribute the success of the facilities to the hard work, dedication and professionalism of the detention staff and personnel. I am very pleased with the results of the inspection."
Adan Muņoz, TCJS executive director, said it is very unusual for a county jail to pass inspections for more than 20 years in a row, although Tarrant County has passed inspections for 28 straight years, and Atascosa County in South Texas holds the record of 30 consecutive years.
Muņoz said, "Randy Clark is a great administrator for the Collin County jail. I take my hat off to Collin County one more time. They have done an outstanding job over the years."
Clark, assistant chief and jail administrator, said, "We have had a good system in place since we moved to the new facility. We have several supervisors and employees who have grown up in the system. They have a great understanding of how the system works. They take pride in their work."
The county jail has been at its present location at 4300 Community Avenue in McKinney since 1994. Prior to that, it was located at Highway 5 and Davis Street in McKinney. That facility was later purchased by the city and eventually demolished.
Box, who has been county sheriff for the past 27 years, said the older facility failed to pass jail inspections several times in the 1980s because of overcrowding. The old jail had only 220 beds and the jail population would often be more than double that, partly because the state was slow to accept prisoners in the penitentiaries because of overcrowding there.
The present jail has 1,250 beds plus another 192 beds at the minimum-security facility. There were 980 prisoners being held in the two facilities earlier this week.
The Collin County Sheriff's Department has 487 employees, including 339 who work at the jail.
It was the 25th consecutive year the county jail facilities have passed state inspections.
The facilities passed on more than 600 inspection points. Inspections also looked at their fire drills, life-safety equipment, laundry and kitchen equipment.
Collin County Sheriff Terry Box said Fred St. Amant, inspector for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), met with County Administrator Bill Bilyeu following the inspections.
"He bragged about the way we keep our facilities in top notch condition," Box said. "It was nice to hear someone from the outside saying nice things about our facilities."
Box added, "I attribute the success of the facilities to the hard work, dedication and professionalism of the detention staff and personnel. I am very pleased with the results of the inspection."
Adan Muņoz, TCJS executive director, said it is very unusual for a county jail to pass inspections for more than 20 years in a row, although Tarrant County has passed inspections for 28 straight years, and Atascosa County in South Texas holds the record of 30 consecutive years.
Muņoz said, "Randy Clark is a great administrator for the Collin County jail. I take my hat off to Collin County one more time. They have done an outstanding job over the years."
Clark, assistant chief and jail administrator, said, "We have had a good system in place since we moved to the new facility. We have several supervisors and employees who have grown up in the system. They have a great understanding of how the system works. They take pride in their work."
The county jail has been at its present location at 4300 Community Avenue in McKinney since 1994. Prior to that, it was located at Highway 5 and Davis Street in McKinney. That facility was later purchased by the city and eventually demolished.
Box, who has been county sheriff for the past 27 years, said the older facility failed to pass jail inspections several times in the 1980s because of overcrowding. The old jail had only 220 beds and the jail population would often be more than double that, partly because the state was slow to accept prisoners in the penitentiaries because of overcrowding there.
The present jail has 1,250 beds plus another 192 beds at the minimum-security facility. There were 980 prisoners being held in the two facilities earlier this week.
The Collin County Sheriff's Department has 487 employees, including 339 who work at the jail.
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